


The Haunting of Olivia Octavius

by Mattecat



Category: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Ghosts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-01-22 21:35:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21308968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mattecat/pseuds/Mattecat
Summary: Olivia Octavius struggles to keep herself afloat after the Alchemax incident, and being haunted by the ghost of Peter Parker doesn't help. When a new villain threatens, she finds herself with allies she didn't expect.
Relationships: Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 14
Kudos: 38





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hello to readers new and old, I needed a break from writing lego ninjago fanfics so I'm writing this one now. if you're an old reader, know that I definitely intend to update this fic regularly. if you're a new reader, don't worry about it.
> 
> what else? not much! heed the tags, and enjoy the story.

The nightmare – which, while it felt very real in the moment, was clearly identifiable as such when she woke up – was about ghosts. Liv had never killed anyone, but she was complicit in the deaths of many, and it was those who came to her in the night. Hands were pawing at her clothes, voices whispered her name. Doc Ock, mostly, since the ones Kingpin killed, well… if they were an enemy of her employer, they were an enemy of her, too.

One voice rose up.

_Liv…_

Friends call me Liv, she said. Friends, and certain others.

_Liv…_

Awake, she splashed water on her face and squinted at her reflection. Liv, she thought. Liv, Liv, get it together, Liv!

There weren't a lot of people who called her that, actually. Too many enemies, not enough friends. Liv didn't let it bother her.

_Liv…_

She wouldn't let the nightmare bother her, either.

Liv put her glasses on, got dressed for the day, and sat down to check her email. Alchemax didn't look so good on a resume after Kingpin went down; her alibi was enough to keep her out of prison, but goddamn – everyone knew she had been critical in building the collider, and no one was keen on hiring the woman who had helped to almost destroy the city. Besides that, her alibi might not last for long, since the new Spiderman knew her secret identity.

The former Spiderman had died without ever finding out that his old Aunt Liv was Doc Ock.

Liv grit her teeth and pushed her chair back from the desk. She hadn't known that Peter Parker was Spiderman, either. If she _had,_ maybe she could have _done_ something. She nearly killed him herself a few times! What was May thinking, not telling her?!

No point in getting angry. May was gone from her life. So was Peter.

Her computer informed her a new email had arrived. Liv took a deep breath and rolled her chair forward to read it.

* * *

One week and a dozen rejections later, Liv was seriously considering a career in retail. She got halfway through filling out an online application before snapping out of it. Damn, her nightmares were really taking a toll on her.

She opened up her budget and made some adjustments. She had enough left for maybe one more month of expenses, but she really shouldn't be dipping into her savings the way she was. Money had to come from somewhere.

Her eyes drifted to her closet.

She hadn't put on her suit in a long time.

The plan had been to keep her activities within the legal realm, stay off the police's radar, that sort of thing. But no one was hiring her, her supervillain identity was still secret, and she would rather rob a bank than join the gig economy.

She even had the floorplans for one of Brooklyn's larger banks. With a click, she opened the file up on her desktop.

Liv smiled to herself.

"Bad idea, Aunt Liv."

Her smile vanished in an instant. "Who's there?!" she snapped, spinning her chair around and jumping to her feet. She grabbed at the closest weapon – a stapler, which was a pity, considering a ray gun prototype was just a few inches further. "How'd you get in my house?!"

"Like this," the voice continued, and Peter Parker walked through the wall.

Liv dropped the stapler and grabbed the ray gun.

"Please don't," Peter said tiredly. "I don't know how tangible I am right now, but if I had to guess, I'd say, not very. You'll probably just blow a hole through your wall."

Peter Parker looked all the same as he did when he died, which was to say, not great. He was bloody and bruised and his blonde hair was filthy. Liv had always complimented him on his hair back when she lived with May. Peter, then a teenager, had laughed in embarrassment and told her to stop. He was Spiderman back then, too, and Liv had no idea. She didn't even find out when Kingpin unmasked him, after the first major collider experiment – she hadn't been on the scene. She only found out when the news announced his death.

"I don't know who you are," she said.

"Yes you do," said Peter before she could continue.

"I don't," Liv said through gritted teeth, "because the person you look like is dead, and ghosts don't exist."

"Alright," Peter said. "Sure. What am I, then?"

Liv lowered the ray gun. "Either a hallucination or a hologram," she said. "Depends on if others can see you. I'm leaning towards hallucination, since hardly anyone would know to call me that."

"What, Aunt Liv?"

"You don't call me that anymore, either," Liv snapped. "I split up with your aunt years ago, and I have no intention to see her ever again."

"You're right," Peter said. "I only called you that now because I thought it would catch you off guard. Then you pointed a ray gun at me, so that worked out great, probably. Can I talk you into passing on a message to Aunt May?"

"No thanks, hallucination." Liv put the gun down and turned away. "Or hologram, whoever you are. I'm getting back to work."

"By work, you mean robbing a bank?"

"You're definitely a hallucination. I didn't tell anyone else I was doing that. I didn't even think of it before today." Mystery solved, she thought to herself, and refocused her attention to the floorplans.

"It was a lucky guess," Peter continued. "I saw you open that file, and I thought, huh, what would Doc Ock want with a bank layout? You're a supervillain. Supervillains rob banks. It's not rocket science."

Liv ignored him up until he waved a hand in front of her face and she rolled back with a yelp.

"Look," Peter said. "As of right now, you are the only person who's been able to see or hear me, and believe me, I tried a lot of people. You're not my first choice, but you might be my only option. Just tell Aunt May –"

"I'm not telling anyone about this," Liv said. "Not that I'm hallucinating, and definitely not that I'm seeing ghosts. You're not real, you don't need me to do anything for you."

"You're awfully convinced of this," Peter said. "Fine. I'll go visit everyone else that lives in this city. Maybe one of them can help me."

"You do that."

"You know I'm coming back, right? I mean, probably."

"I'd rather you not, but there's no sense in reasoning with a hallucination."

"Sure," Peter said. "See you later."

Liv watched him go, back through the wall. Then she went back to her computer and stared at the floorplans. She had a month left to put a plan together, but it would be suspicious if she came into a lot of money at once. Well, she'd figure that out once she _had_ the money…

* * *

"Robbing a bank?" Spiderman said. "Really? I thought you'd be into more… flashier stuff."

"I don't have the funding for anything bigger than this," she said, as one of her tentacles shredded the web-matter keeping it closed. "Let me rob the bank and maybe you'll get a front row seat for my next stunt."

"Yeah, sorry." The kid dodged her attempts to grab him and kept his distance. "Unless it's a prison escape, your only stunts are gonna be… uh…"

Liv rolled her eyes. "You know, the last Spiderman was much better at quips than you," she said, and immediately regretted it.

He winced. "Hey!" he said, "I could go straight to the cops and tell them exactly who you are, y'know?"

"And you haven't done that… why?"

"Uh," said Spiderman.

Liv smirked. "You did, didn't you? And they didn't believe you, right?"

"They'll believe me once I show them the proof!"

Spiderman jumped on the wall to avoid another tentacle. Liv cackled and made another grab for him –

– only for Aaron Davis to appear out of nowhere and block her path.

Liv panicked. She was moving too fast to avoid him – in her attempt to change direction, her tentacles tripped over each other, she tumbled forward, and went straight through Aaron and crashed into the wall.

"Whoa," said Spiderman while she picked herself up. "That was pretty impressive, if you meant to do that. Still impressive otherwise, but in, like, an embarrassing way."

"Oh, shut up," Liv said, looking over her shoulder at where Aaron had been. He was gone, which figured. Her head was pounding, her nerves were on edge, and even Spiderman was looking at her with concern. "Fine. You win."

"You're coming with me and turning yourself in to the police?" Spiderman said.

"Absolutely not," Liv said. "I'm going home."

As she made her escape, she thought she saw flashes of purple in the edges of her vision. Whenever she tried to get a good look, they were gone.

* * *

At home, Liv changed out of her suit and into casual clothes, then sat herself down at her computer. So robbing the bank hadn't gone well. That was fine. She had a handful of fresh rejections in her email. That was fine, too. She would figure something out.

Who was she kidding, _this was not fine._ Liv groaned and let her head fall face-down on the keyboard. No job, no robbery, no one else to turn to, and her money was running out. She wasn't even going to think about the hallucinations.

"No luck at the bank, huh?"

Liv ignored him.

"Cool," Peter said. "I didn't find anyone else who could see or hear me, so I'm thinking you're my best and only option."

"Go away," Liv said without lifting her head.

"I wish."

"What do you need to tell May so badly, anyway?"

Peter hesitated for a long moment. Liv straightened up and spun her chair around to face him. "Well?" she said.

It took a few more moments for Peter to speak. "I'm still here," he said, "and I don't know why. I haven't seen any other ghosts around, don't know if there's an afterlife I can go to, don't know if this is the afterlife – I need help, and I don't trust you to give it."

"You're not ghosts," Liv said. "You're hallucinations, and I don't know why I'm humoring myself. I'm getting back to work."

She spun back to her computer. "Wait," Peter said, "ghosts, plural?"

"Hallucinations, plural."

"Who else did you see?"

Liv groaned. "Aaron Davis," she said, spinning around again. "Not that it matters." At Peter's confused expression, she added, "the Prowler."

"Oh," he said. "How did he die?"

"Kingpin shot him."

"For what?"

"Disobeying orders." What order he had disobeyed had never been made clear to her.

"Did you know him?"

"We were coworkers. Nothing more."

"You don't even pretend to care, huh?"

"Doesn't matter now," Liv snapped. "He's dead, and ghosts aren't real, and I don't need to justify myself to a hallucination. The dead don't care. They're gone for good."

Peter frowned. "You didn't say that to Aunt May after Uncle Ben died."

"Dead don't care, but the living do," said Liv. "Saying her husband no longer existed wouldn't have helped her. Everything we do for the dead is for the living."

"So you won't tell Aunt May I'm still around," Peter said.

"You're not. I'm only talking to myself."

She turned away and did her best to ignore the presence she could still feel behind her. Peter – the hallucination – didn't say anything, which helped, but he was still _there,_ insofar as a hallucination could be anywhere. Liv wasn't a psychiatrist, she didn't know how this worked. 

"Fine," Peter said. "You want proof I'm real? I'll tell you something you couldn't possibly know."

"Like what?" Liv said, forgetting her resolve to ignore him.

"The identity of the new Spiderman."

Liv spun her chair around. "Excuse me?"

Peter crossed his arms. "But before I tell you," he said, "you have to swear on my death that you won't harm him, or unmask him, or do anything to put him in danger."

"So you're asking me to stop doing crime," Liv said, "because every time I try to rob a bank or whatever, he's there to stop me, and it won't be easy getting away without doing harm."

"Fine, then. Do crime, but don't hurt him beyond anything you did to me."

Liv had hurt the previous Spiderman pretty badly, all without knowing he was Peter Parker. "I don't have to listen to you," she said. "You're a hallucination, and everything you say is a product of my own imagination."

"Swear on my death," Peter said again. "If I'm a hallucination, then the name I say will be wrong, because I can't say anything you don't already know, and it won't matter what you do. If I'm real, then I want you to swear on my death and on whatever love you had for Aunt May."

Liv sighed. Why she was humoring her own delusional mind, she didn't know. "Fine," she said. "I swear, by your death and by the very real love I had for your aunt, that I will not tell anyone else Spiderman's identity under the mask, and I will not harm him beyond anything I did to you."

"And I swear," Peter said, "that if you break your vow, I will make your life a living hell. I'll drive you to insanity. I'll follow you everywhere, and I won't rest until the day you die."

"Noted. What name are you going to tell me?"

Peter hesitated for a long moment. "Miles Morales," he finally said.

The name wasn't familiar to her. Liv considered it for a few moments, trying to figure out where she had heard it before, but came up with nothing. How had the hallucination known to say it?

"Well?" Peter said. He didn't sound nearly as confident as he had before; he would know the weight of a superhero's identity, after all.

"Obviously I need to see if you're right," Liv said. "Which you aren't, because I've never heard that name in my life, so you've just plucked an unrelated first and last name from my unconscious mind. Did you think I would instantly believe you?"

"Not really," Peter said, "but a guy can have hope."

He turned and walked through the wall without another word. Liv watched him go, and once she was certain he wasn't coming back, she spun back to her computer and began running searches for whoever Miles Morales was.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for posting this and then. not updating lol. here's chapter 2, chapter is coming. thank you for reading!

As far as she could tell, Miles Morales was an ordinary fourteen year old living in Brooklyn, New York. He went to Visions Academy – a place Liv had applied to work at and been rejected from – and had above-average grades there. His parents were Rio Morales and Jefferson Davis, and another search revealed that he was, in fact, related to the late Aaron Davis.

This made sense. Aaron must have mentioned his nephew once, and Liv had heard the name, forgot about it, and then the hallucination had dug it up from the depths of her consciousness. Obviously Miles Morales wasn't Spiderman, because Liv didn't know who Spiderman was, and no hallucination would know anything more than she did.

But, of course, she had to make sure.

It was simple enough to set up. She dressed in her suit and made a fuss on the outskirts of Brooklyn. Sure enough, Spiderman came to stop her.

"C'mon," he said. "What are you even doing? It looks like you're just making a mess!"

Liv chucked a trash can at him, spilling garbage everywhere and completely missing her mark. "Maybe that's exactly what I'm doing," she said. "Making a mess for someone else to clean up."

"Sure, alright." Spiderman landed on the side of a nearby building and shot webbing at her, neutralizing one of her mechanical limbs. "But why?"

"I needed to talk to you." After making sure the street was clear of cops, Liv landed on the asphalt and crossed her arms, stopping her attack for now. "You're not an easy Spiderman to get ahold of."

Spiderman stayed put on the building, though he made no move to shoot more webbing. "You could've, I dunno, tried something that's not trashing the place? You're supposed to be, like, a genius, I'm sure you could've thought of something!"

"And this is what I thought of." Liv heard a nearby police siren. "So could we talk? In private?"

"Uh, no?"

Liv smirked. "I'm sure you'd rather that than have me reveal your secret identity in public."

A crowd had formed already, and even from their safe distance away, Liv could hear them murmur. It was funny; she was so sure the hallucination of Peter Parker would be wrong, and yet she was putting on such confidence that he was right.

…that _she_ was right. Because Peter Parker was dead, and ghosts weren't real, and Liv was just talking to her own head.

She focused back on her target.

Spiderman recoiled. "You've got to be messing with me," he said. "You don't know who I am!"

"Maybe I don't," Liv said, "but I've been doing my research, and I have some educated guesses. Would you like to meet in private, or should I start guessing now?"

"You're bluffing!" Spiderman stood up straight and crossed his arms. "Give me the first letter."

"Of your first name or –" Wait. "– never mind. It's M. Am I right?"

No reaction, not at first, but Liv couldn't tell what was going on under the mask. Spiderman stared at her for a few long moments, then said, "Fine. But I'm choosing the place!"

Liv's heart pounded. "Fine with me," she said. "Where did you have in mind?"

* * *

Spiderman led her to the roof of an abandoned warehouse. "Cool place," she said, glancing around to see if they had been followed. "So…"

"Spill it," Spiderman said. "Who do you think I am?"

"Some kid who got in way over his head."

"My _identity,_ moron."

"Oh, yes."

Liv hesitated for a long moment. Letting a hallucination give her the name was one thing, but saying it out loud… "Miles Morales," she managed to say. "Though I have to say, I think my earlier assessment was correct."

"Okay," said Spiderman. "What if I tell you you're wrong?"

Her shoulders sagged in relief. "Nothing changes," she said. "I'll go back to my normal routine, and you can keep doing your Spiderman thing."

"Great to know," Spiderman said. "Then what if you're right?"

"Then my life is ruined."

"No, seriously."

"I am serious!" Liv snapped. "I have been driving myself mad over this whole situation, and I don't use that word lightly!" This was too much to tell a stranger, even if that stranger is Spiderman. Liv kept going anyway. "If I'm right, it means everything I believed in was wrong. So for the love of God, whichever one you believe in, tell me I'm wrong!"

"Okay," Spiderman said. "I don't have time to unpack all of that, and I'd love to just leave you to do your crazy person things, but…"

He reaches a hand to his mask. After a moment's pause, he grabs it and in one swift motion, pulls it off.

"You're right," says Miles Morales, "and I need to know _why._ How did you know?"

Liv opened her mouth, but no words came out. Miles took a step towards. "And why," he said, "didn't you tell everyone else? I know you were looking for my secret identity! Didn't expect you to actually find it, but too late now!"

Her mind rapidly shuffled through explanation after explanation. Obviously, she had heard the name "Miles Morales" somewhere in the context of Spiderman, and her subconscious had put the two pieces together. It didn't mean Peter had told her. It didn't mean ghosts were real. It just meant she was, quite literally, a mad scientist, and she needed to get a job so she could go to therapy on her employer's health insurance.

"Hey! Answer me!"

Liv shook her head. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you," she said. "I don't believe it myself. Put your mask back on, what if someone sees you?"

"Since when did you care? You tried to kill me!"

"Hey," she snapped, "I knew you were a kid, even if I didn't know your identity, and I don't kill kids. I doubt you got anything worse than a few bruises after our fights."

"Yeah, well, you didn't stop anyone else from trying to kill me!" But he put the mask back on. "So how did you know?" he said. "I'm not leaving until I get an answer!"

Liv groaned. "Would you believe me if I said I've been haunted?"

The statement sent a shiver through her. Her constant denial was starting to break down. Maybe she was haunted, she thought. Maybe it really was the late Peter Parker who was visiting her. What was she supposed to do? She didn't want to face him.

"You've been _what?_"

"Haunted!" Liv snapped. "If what he told me is true, and it isn't some nonsense my brain came up with, then I have been legitimately haunted for _weeks_ now!"

Spiderman crossed his arms. "Are you saying you knew my secret identity because a ghost told you?"

Liv threw her arms up and her tentacles moved with them. "Yes! That's exactly what I'm saying!"

"Whoa," Spiderman said. "Calm down. You obviously need help, and I dunno if I can give it to you. What's does the ghost want?"

"What?"

"Ghosts are hanging around 'cause they've got unfinished business, right? What's this one's business?"

"He…" Liv ran her fingers through her hair. "He wants to talk to May."

Spiderman considered this for a moment. "Oh-kay," he said. "You're not gonna be able to see her if you just… show up."

"What makes you think I want to see her?"

"You don't want to be haunted, right? So obviously, you gotta do what the ghost wants."

"There's no scientific basis for this," Liv said. "You could be making things up, for all I know."

"I'm not making it up! Have you ever read a comic book? Or, like, any story with ghosts in it?"

"It doesn't matter." She turned away. "I don't need your help."

Spiderman snorted. "So, what, you're just gonna knock on May's door and expect her to invite you in for a coffee? Hey! Where are you going?!"

Liv didn't bother answering, focused on putting distance between them. When she was at a safe enough distance, she returned to her civilian garb, and began the long trek back to her apartment.

* * *

"You're back," Peter said. Liv ignored him. She took off her coat, tossed the bag with her suit in the corner, and sat down at her computer to do… something. Anything. She clicked open social media and immediately closed it when she saw the news report featuring Spiderman and herself.

"Did you tell him?"

"You were right," Liv said. "Spiderman is Miles Morales."

"So you did tell him," Peter said. "What did he say?"

Liv refused to look at him. "It doesn't matter," she said, "because I don't need his help. All I needed was to confirm what you told me, and I did that."

"Do you finally admit I'm real?"

Liv spun her chair to glare at him. "Yes," she said. "You're real, and everything I thought was true is wrong, and my life is ruined. Why are you haunting me?"

"I told you," Peter said calmly, "I don't know why I'm here, or why you're the only person who can see me. Are you going to help me find out?"

"I don't even know where to begin!" Liv threw her hands in the air. "I don't know the first thing about ghosts, I don't know where to look for information, and I don't know how I can face May after everything that's happened! So no, I still can't help you."

"That's it? You're not even going to try?"

"What's there to try?"

"Just –" Peter ran a hand over his face. "– suck it up, go see Aunt May, and tell her I'm still here! Then, I don't know, maybe I can be someone else's problem! You don't want to deal with me anymore, right?"

"I never said that, I just –"

"Y'know, now that you know I'm who I say I am, the way you're treating me makes you think you don't care about me anymore, if you ever even did."

"Of course I cared for you, Peter!"

"So why won't you help me?!"

Liv forced herself not to flinch at Peter's shout. "Because I can't," she said. "I couldn't, or didn't, do anything to stop Kingpin from killing you, and I can't face May after that. Maybe being haunted for the rest of my life is what I deserve."

Peter stared at her for another moment, then shook his head. "So you're just going to ignore your responsibility to try and fix things?" he said. "Do you think I _want_ to haunt you forever? This isn't about what you deserve, it's about doing what's right! You can't possibly think the right thing to do is _nothing!_"

"There's nothing I can do!"

"Yes there is! Go see my aunt!"

To her horror, Liv felt tears threatening in her eyes. She turned her face away. "I can't," she said again. "There's nothing I can to do help you. I'm sorry, Peter."

Silence fell between them. Liv refused to look at Peter. If she didn't, she could pretend he had left, and she was alone.

The phone rang.

Liv jumped at the noise. "Who the hell is that?" she exclaimed.

"How am I supposed to know?" Peter said. "It doesn't matter. Go ahead and ignore it like all your other responsibilities."

Liv ignored him and picked up the phone. "Olivia Octavius speaking," she said. "Who is it?"

"Liv, we need to talk."

Liv immediately tried to slam the phone back on its receiver. She missed, and had to pick it up to try again, all the while the person on the other end raised her voice to a shout.

"Who is that?" Peter demanded.

Her hands were shaking so badly, she could barely hold the phone. Dammit, this wasn't supposed to happen! Olivia Octavius wasn't supposed to lose her composure over a phone call! She took deep breaths and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Is that Aunt May?"

Peter's voice came from right next to her. Liv jumped. "Jesus Christ, you're going to give me a heart attack –"

"Maybe then I won't be the only ghost stuck around here," he snapped. "What the hell are you doing? Talk to her! You can't run away from this!"

Running away sounded great right about now. Liv grit her teeth and put the phone up to her ear.

"Hi, May," she said.

"Finally! You have some nerve, leaving me –"

"I take it the Morales kid spoke to you?" Liv interrupted.

May paused for a few moments. "Yes, he did. Told me something about a ghost haunting you. I'm not stupid, Liv. What's going on?"

Liv hesitated. "Look," she said, "it's hard to explain. Could we talk in person?"


End file.
